Lesson Procedure

Lesson One: Drafting the Constitution

This lesson, a supplement to a study of the Constitutional Convention, focuses on The Committee of Detail's draft of the Constitution submitted on 6 August 1787. The delegates debated its contents for a month before referring the document to the Committee of Style. The Committee's report, presented to the Convention on 12 September, became the Constitution of the United States.

Discuss the significance of the wording of the preamble. Consider questions such as:
Why is the Preamble of the Constitution drafted by the Committee of Detail worded, "We the people of the States..."?
What conclusions could you draw from this wording?
How significant was the change in wording in the Constitution?

Examine Article IX of the Report of the Committee of Detail. Consider questions such as:
How do the Committee of Detail's draft and the adopted Constitution differ regarding the executive branch?
What may account for these changes?

Culminating Activity:

Debate the efficacy of having the president elected for one term of seven years as opposed to the present constitutional limitation of two four year terms established by the Twenty-Second Amendment.

Extension Activities

1. Thomas Jefferson on the Constitution

Read excerpts from Thomas Jefferson's letter to James Madison from Paris, 20 December 1787, regarding the failure to limit the term of the executive. Examine elections of the president in U.S. history as a means of evaluating Jefferson's concerns regarding "rotation in office."

2. Correspondence of Delegates at the Philadelphia Convention

Read the personal correspondence of delegates to gain a better understanding of hopes, aspirations, and fears of members of the Federal Convention.

Numerous letters from Elbridge Gerry to his wife Ann are included in Supplement to Max Farrand's The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 edited by James H. Hutson (Yale University Press, 1987).

Other letters are included in The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Volume 3, edited by Max Farrand (Yale University Press, 1966).
Refer to George Washington's letters to Thomas Jefferson (30 May 1787), to the Marquis de Lafayette (6 June 1787), and to Alexander Hamilton (10 July 1787); and
James Madison's letters to Thomas Jefferson (18 July 1787) and to his father (28 July 1787); and
Robert Morris's letter to his sons (25 June 1787).

3. The Veto Power

Examine Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution of the United States regarding the presidential veto.

To what extent does the line item veto enhance the power of the presidency?

Why did Congress agree to the line item veto?

Write a position paper expressing your views on the line item veto.

Lesson Two: The Bill of Rights

On 12 September 1787, during the final days of the Constitutional Convention, George Mason of Virginia expressed the desire that the Constitution be prefaced by a Bill of Rights. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts proposed a motion to form a committee to incorporate such a declaration of rights; however the motion was defeated. This lesson examines the First Congress's addition of a Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

Preliminary Activity:

Review the amendment process outlined in Article V of the Constitution.

Culminating Activity:

Debate the proposition: Resolved, the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution was necessary and prudent.

Extension Activities

The Bill of Rights

Read Federalist 84 from The Federalist Papers edited by Clinton Rossiter, regarding the reasons why a Bill of Rights was not included in the Constitution and evaluate Alexander Hamilton's assertion that a bill of rights is " ...not only unnecessary in the proposed Constitution but would even be dangerous."

Read Brutus' letter, To the Citizens of the State of New York, 1 November 1787, in The Antifederalist Writings by the Opponents of the Constitution, Herbert J. Storing, ed., on the need for a Bill of Rights.

What are the arguments used to convince the people that specific guarantees of rights are necessary?

Examine the seventeen amendments in the House of Representatives' Resolution and Articles of Amendment passed on 24 August 1789, from The Founders' Constitution: Major Themes, edited by Philip Kurland and Ralph Lerner. How do these seventeen amendments differ from the twelve approved by the Senate on 14 September 1789?

Amending the Constitution

Review Article V of the Constitution and explain the two ways in which the Constitution may be amended.

Examine H.J.Res. 2, H.J.Res. 73, and S.J.Res. 21 (104th Congress, 1st Session), proposed amendments to the Constitution with respect to the number of terms of office of Members of Congress. To track the legislative history for those bills, see the Bill Summary and Status Information for each bill.

Read editorials in newspapers and magazines which help provide a survey of public reaction to the proposed amendment.

Write a position paper expressing your views on limiting terms of member of Congress.

Lesson Three: Linking Past to Present

The Constitution of the United States vests in Congress the power to make laws, to collect taxes, and to allocate funds for government programs, both domestic and foreign. It is in Congress that the day-to-day work of our democracy finds its most clear expression at the national level. It is up to the men and women elected to serve in the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States to formulate policy and enact legislation on behalf of their constituents, as well as the entire country.

A study of three perennial issues -- veterans' benefits, the national debt, and terrorism -- shows the ways in which Congress responded to problems in 1785, and in recent years.

National Debt

The following documents can be used in succession (or working within pairs study one set of documents at a time), to investigate Congress' efforts to reign in the national debt during the time of the Continental Congress and in recent years:

To locate debate related to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, search on keywords "September 11" in the Congressional Record for the 107th Congress. Change the "Specify number of documents to be retrieved" box at the bottom of the page from 50 to 2000.

What "good effects" does John Jay and Paul Jones think will come out of the fact that the Algerines had declared war against the United States in October 1785?

3. Review John Jay's reports to Congress from the Office for Foreign Affairs, 29 September and 20 October 1785. Consider his suggestions for prosecuting people caught committing piracies and felonies on the high seas and discuss such questions as:

What title would John Jay have if he held the same position in the American government today?

What punishment was recommended for persons convicted of these crimes?

Why does Jay not specify punishments for treason? What statement of his illuminates one of the confusing aspects of citizenship in the "new" United States?

Lesson Four: Early Congress Proclaims Holidays

One of the most lasting historical effects of Congressional decision-making is the establishment of national holidays. This lesson highlights early examples of Congress declaring special days of thanksgiving and remembrance.

Preliminary Activity:

Distribute a copy of the original broadside "In Congress. December 11, 1776...". Read along as the teacher recites the first paragraph of the manuscript, and points out the early form of the letter "S". Work individually or in pairs to transcribe the second paragraph of the broadside. (The transcribed version of the broadside could be printed on the reverse of the copy of the manuscript to facilitate this task).

Consider such questions as:

What is the "just and necessary war" to which Congress refers?

When and where did the battles of that war begin?

When did the Americans declare their independence from Great Britain?

What are the recommendations Congress makes to the United States?

According to the tone of this document, how do you think the war was going at the time it was written?